🇩🇪 German for beginners (A1) · Chapter 2

Greetings and introducing yourself

Four sentences — name, country, city, what you do — plus one choice between du and Sie get you through your first day in Germany.

Study this lesson free in the app →

The basics

Greeting and introducing yourself in German is a small set of fixed phrases: a greeting that depends on the time of day, four lines about yourself, and a goodbye.

The problem it solves: your first German conversations — the university office, a WG (shared flat) viewing, a new team — happen before you know any grammar. Fixed phrases let you sound polite and confident on day one.

The mental model: German has two words for 'you', exactly like Hindi. Sie is aap: strangers, officials, professors, shopkeepers. du is tum: friends, family, fellow students, children. The verb changes with it: Wie heißen Sie? vs Wie heißt du? When unsure, use Sie — moving down to du is easy, moving back up is awkward.

Explained

Guten Tag, Frau Weber. A firm handshake. Eye contact.

That is a complete, correct greeting in a German office — and three of its four parts are not words.

The word part is small: a greeting, four lines about yourself, a goodbye. The one real decision is du or Sie, and you already make it every day in Hindi: aap or tum.

Hello and goodbye, by the clock

Guten Morgen   GOO-ten MOR-gen   until about 11
Guten Tag      GOO-ten tahk      daytime, polite
Guten Abend    GOO-ten AH-bent   from about 6 pm
Gute Nacht     GOO-tuh nahkht    only when going to bed
Hallo          HAH-loh           any time, casual

Auf Wiedersehen   owf VEE-der-zayn   polite goodbye
Tschüss           chüss              casual bye
Bis morgen        bis MOR-gen        see you tomorrow
Bis später        bis SHPAY-ter      see you later

You will also hear regional greetings: Moin in Hamburg and the north, Servus and Grüß Gott in Bavaria and Austria, Grüezi in Switzerland. Reply with the same word — locals like it.

du or Sie — aap or tum

Sie (always capital S) is polite. du is familiar.

Sie (aap)                     du (tum)
----------------------------  --------------------------
officials, Bürgeramt          friends, family
professors, doctors           fellow students
shop and bank staff           flatmates in a WG
your landlord                 children
new colleagues (until offered) most startups, sports clubs

The verb follows the pronoun:

Wie heißen Sie? — Wie heißt du?

Woher kommen Sie? — Woher kommst du?

The older or more senior person offers du: Wollen wir uns duzen? (Shall we say du?). Until then, stay with Sie.

Introduce yourself in four lines

NAME   Ich heiße Arjun.  /  Mein Name ist Arjun Rao.
FROM   Ich komme aus Indien, aus Bangalore.
LIVE   Ich wohne in Berlin.
DO     Ich bin Student.  /  Ich arbeite als Ingenieur.
BACK   Und du?  /  Und Sie?

The matching questions:

Wie heißt du?          Wie heißen Sie?
Woher kommst du?       Woher kommen Sie?
Wo wohnst du?          Wo wohnen Sie?
Was machst du?         Was machen Sie beruflich?

Women add -in to most job words: Studentin, Ingenieurin, Ärztin (doctor).

'How are you?' is a real question

In Germany, Wie geht's? is mostly asked by people who know you — and they may actually want an answer.

Sehr gut, danke!       very well, thanks
Gut, danke.            fine, thanks
Es geht.               so-so
Nicht so gut.          not so good

Then ask back: Und dir? (to du) or Und Ihnen? (to Sie). The full polite question is Wie geht es Ihnen?

Shop staff and officials will not ask how you are, and you should not ask them. A clear Guten Tag is the whole greeting.

Monday, 10:15 — the international office

Frau Becker: Guten Morgen! Bitte, nehmen Sie Platz.

Ananya: Guten Morgen. Mein Name ist Ananya Iyer. Ich bin neu hier.

Frau Becker: Willkommen, Frau Iyer! Woher kommen Sie?

Ananya: Ich komme aus Indien, aus Chennai.

Frau Becker: Und was studieren Sie?

Ananya: Ich studiere Informatik.

Frau Becker: Schön. Freut mich!

Ananya: Freut mich auch. Vielen Dank!

Frau Becker: Gern geschehen. Auf Wiedersehen!

That evening in her WG kitchen:

Jonas: Hi, ich bin Jonas. Und du?

Ananya: Hallo! Ich bin Ananya.

Same person, same day — Sie in the office, du in the flat.

Sie = aap. du = tum.

When in doubt, Sie — you can always step down to du, never comfortably back up.

Gute Nacht is for bed. Evening greeting is Guten Abend.

Aus Indien, not von Indien — think aus = out of, like the country you came out of.

Mistakes Indian learners make

• Ich komme von Indien. Countries and cities take aus: Ich komme aus Indien.
• Ich bin ein Student. No article with a job: Ich bin Student / Studentin.
• Ich bin gut for 'I'm fine'. That means 'I am good (at something / a good person)'. Say Mir geht's gut.
• Sir / Madam, or the first name with a professor. Use Herr / Frau + surname: Frau Professor Schmidt or Frau Schmidt.
• sie in lower case in an email. sie = she or they; Sie = you (polite).
• Guten Nacht — Nacht is feminine, so Gute Nacht.
• Tschüss to an official. Use Auf Wiedersehen.

Words to know

In two minutes

• Greet by time of day: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend; Gute Nacht only when someone goes to bed.
• Hallo and Tschüss are casual; Guten Tag and Auf Wiedersehen are polite.
• Sie is the polite 'you' (like aap), du the familiar one (like tum); the verb ending changes with it.
• Use Sie with strangers, officials, professors and shopkeepers; wait for the senior person to offer du.
• Introduce yourself in four lines: Ich heiße…, Ich komme aus…, Ich wohne in…, Ich bin Student / Ich arbeite als…
• Professions take no article: Ich bin Ingenieurin, not Ich bin eine Ingenieurin.
• Address people as Herr / Frau + surname, and answer 'How are you?' with Mir geht's gut, not Ich bin gut.

Test yourself

There are 9 questions, 3 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.